Caroline Mamita Nicol was born on June 6, 1944 in what was then Banjul, The Gambia, to Attorney Harry Nicol and Mary “Mame Kumba” Gomez.
Caroline was only 10 years old when her father Harry Nicol passed away, but prior to his passing, he had expressed a desire to have his only daughter educated to the best of her abilities. Upon his passing, Mame Kumba made the difficult decision and sacrifice of sending her only daughter to Sierra Leone to be raised and educated by Harry Nicol’s younger sister, Mrs. Alice Thomas.
Caroline’s education included St. Joseph’s Convent in Freetown, Sierra Leone, Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia, and Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in Massachusetts.
In addition to being a Civil Servant with the Sierra Leonean Foreign Ministry, Caroline went on to make an illustrious career with the United Nations and USAID starting in 1968. She met her soul mate and fellow Civil Servant, Joseph Koroma and they were married in 1969 in Freetown, Sierra Leone. They went on to have three children - Jojo, Yema and Sarrang.
Caroline’s career took her from Africa, to the United States, to Asia and to Europe.
Her most prominent contributions to diplomatic service was as the Head of Office during and after the Kosovo War in Europe. She was later appointed again as Head of Office for MONUC (The United Nations Mission to The Congo), based in Beni, as the highest ranking UN official in charge of brokering peace treaties between the warring factions, reconstruction, infrastructure development, education and election monitoring.
This would be her last mission as Caroline retired from the UN in 2005.
Caroline spent her retirement years with her youngest daughter, Mrs. Sarrang Mamita Kingston, and her grandchildren in Suwanee, Georgia and then later with her eldest daughter Ms. Yema Maryse Koroma-Nelson, in Columbia, Maryland.
Caroline is survived by her husband, Mr. Joseph Mannaw Koroma of Freetown, Sierra Leone; her son, Valjojo Koroma of Rochester, New York; her daughters, Ms. Yema Maryse Koroma-Nelson of Columbia, Maryland; Mrs. Sarrang Mamita Kingston of Suwanee, Georgia; her grandchildren, Khalil Nelson, Jamil Nelson, Lillian Kingston, Sophia Kingston, Natalie Kingston, Benjamin Kingston Jr.; her great-grandson, Princeton Nelson and her much loved younger brother, Emmanuel “Manu Kumba” Williams Former Mayor of Banjul, The Gambia and a host of extended family members.
Funeral services will be held on Wednesday, November 18, 2020 at the Witzke Funeral Home in Columbia, Maryland. Due to COVID-19 restrictions and for those unable to attend, the family will have the service streamed live. Details will be shared in the coming days.
We are grateful for our mother’s life and everything she was to us, her children and to so many others who fondly called her “Auntie Mamie”.
We take comfort knowing that she is with her beloved mother, our grandmother, the late Mary Kumba Gomez, and her brother Rex Maxwell, who preceded her in death.
Sleep well Mummy…..we love you.
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